Roach has bittersweet feelings about Saturday night

For Freddie Roach, the architect of Manny Pacquiao’s breathtaking drubbing of Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday night in Las Vegas, “The Dream Match” was the perfect name for Saturday’s superfight because he couldn’t have dreamt of a better performance from his fighter. In fact, as of Sunday evening, the Hall of Fame-bound trainer said he still felt as if here were dreaming. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, it still doesn’t feel real,” Roach told THE RING. “Saturday night was so perfect it felt like a dream. Even when I was driving home today and thought about the fight and how great everything went, I wondered if I was dreaming. “I always had confidence that Manny could win the fight. I knew he would go out and do his best, but I didn’t dream that he would dominate the fight the way he did. “He did everything that we worked on in the gym and everything that I hoped he would do in the fight. De La Hoya did everything I hoped he would do, too. I hoped we could get him to lead and he did. I hoped he would follow Manny around the ring and he did. I hoped that he’d let Manny take away his jab and, sure enough, he couldn’t jab after the first round. “De La Hoya tried to let his hands go but with Manny’s in-and-out motion, he couldn’t time him. It had to have been a frustrating night for him.” What was a frustrating and punishing night for De La Hoya, an overwhelming favorite to win the fight, was among the most satisfying victories of Roach’s 25-year career as a trainer. Roach hasn’t had a lot of time to think about it, but as of Sunday, he said he ranks Pacquiao’s eighth-round TKO of De La Hoya among his top three victories. “It’s definitely one of my biggest wins,” he said. “It’s up there with the first time one of my fighters won a world title, when Virgil Hill knocked out Leslie Stewart. Virgil was a 5-to-1 underdog and I was 27 years old. That was special. “Manny’s knockout of (Erik) Morales in their rematch was a high point for both of us. Manny had so much to prove after losing the first fight, and there was so much pressure for him to win from the Philippines that when he stopped Morales, it was very emotional. “(Saturday’s fight) was so big, Manny’s performance was so perfect and we proved so many experts and critics wrong, that it should be the best night of my career, but it was also kind of bitter sweet. I felt bad for Oscar.” Roach, who trained De La Hoya for his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year, said he felt conflicted during the final rounds of the bout. “Manny’s speed and southpaw style was overwhelming Oscar to the point that I was concerned for Oscar’s well being,” Roach said, “but we still had a fight to win. After the seventh round, I told Manny, ‘I know you like this guy but it’s your job to knock him out.’ “I’m glad they stopped it after the eighth round. I thought they could have stopped it in the seventh round when Oscar grabbed the ropes to stay up while his legs shook. “He approached me right after they stopped it, and I asked him if he was OK, and he told me, ‘I just don’t have it anymore’. Fighters are proud people so for him to say that to me, it really had to be a sad moment for him. I was sad for him Saturday night, and I have compassion for Oscar right now. I know how hard it is to give up boxing, but he’s got his family, he’s got options and he’s got nothing to prove. “I really hope he retires. I know we went back and forth in the media before the fight, but I really like Oscar and I’d like to think that we’ll be friends again some day.” While it’s clear that De La Hoya’s days as a world-class fighter are over, Pacquiao, who won his first world title 10 years, seems to get better with every fight. Roach believes the best is yet to come. “Manny’s fought two perfect fights in a row now,” he said. “He’s in his prime. He reminds me of a modern-day Henry Armstrong, someone who can go up and down in weight and fight the best in the world.” A slight step down in weight, to the junior welterweight division where THE RING champ Ricky Hatton eagerly awaits, is probably the next move for Pacquiao, according to Roach. “Hatton is the biggest fight that can be made right now,” said Roach, who had targeted the popular Englishman before Pacquiao’s first (and only) fight at lightweight this past June. “People keep bringing up Mayweather Jr. but he hasn’t come out of retirement yet, and until he does, there’s no reason for us to call out his name. “Bob (Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter) likes the (Hatton) fight, and I think he’ll work on getting it done, but I haven’t talked to Manny about it in any detail. “This morning I told Manny, ‘You just won the biggest fight of your life, you’re wife’s got a baby on the way, your birthday is coming up, Christmas is coming up, don’t worry about who to fight next. Take some time off. You deserve it.” And what about Roach? “Me, take a vacation?” he said. “I’ve got some kids fighting on a December 20th card. I’m the boxing coach for (former UFC heavyweight champ) Andrei Arlovski, who’s got a big fight next month. “I’m back in the gym Monday.”